SCHEDULE L OMB No.

1545-0074
Standard Deduction for Certain Filers
(Form 1040A or 1040)
Department of the Treasury
© Attach to Form 1040A or 1040. © See instructions on back.
2009
Attachment
Internal Revenue Service (99) Sequence No. 57
Name(s) shown on return Your social security number

File this form only if you are increasing your standard deduction by certain state or local real estate taxes, new motor vehicle taxes,
CAUTION
or a net disaster loss. It may be better for you to itemize your deductions instead. See the Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040).
1 Enter the amount shown below for your filing status.

%
● Single or married filing separately—$5,700
● Married filing jointly or Qualifying widow(er)—$11,400 1
● Head of household—$8,350
2 Can you (or your spouse if filing jointly) be claimed as a dependent
on someone else’s return?
No. Enter the amount from line 1 on line 4, skip line 3, and
go to line 5.
Yes. Go to line 3.
3 Is your earned income more than $650 (see instructions)?
Yes. Add $300 to your earned income. Enter the total
No. Enter $950
3
%
4 Enter the smaller of line 1 or line 3 4
5 Multiply the number on Form 1040, line 39a, or Form 1040A, line 23a, by $1,100 ($1,400 if
single or head of household). If blank, enter -0- 5
6 Form 1040 filers only, enter any net disaster loss from Form 4684, line 18 6
7 Enter the state and local real estate taxes you paid. Do not
include foreign real estate taxes (see instructions) 7
8 Enter $500 ($1,000 if married filing jointly) 8
9 Enter the smaller of line 7 or line 8 9
10 Did you (or your spouse if filing jointly) pay any state or local sales or excise taxes in 2009 for the
purchase of a new motor vehicle after February 16, 2009 (see instructions)?
No. Skip lines 10 through 19, enter -0- on line 20, and go to line 21.
Yes. If Form 1040, line 38, or Form 1040A, line 22, is less than $135,000
($260,000 if married filing jointly), enter the amount of these taxes paid.
Otherwise, skip lines 10 through 19, enter -0- on line 20, and go to line 21 10
11 Enter the purchase price (before taxes) of the new motor
vehicle(s) (see instructions) 11
12 Is the amount on line 11 more than $49,500?
No. Enter the amount from line 10.
Yes. Figure the portion of the tax from line 10 that is
attributable to the first $49,500 of the purchase price of each
new motor vehicle and enter it here (see instructions) 12
13 Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 38, or Form 1040A, line 22 13
14 Form 1040 filers only, enter the total of any—
● Amounts from Form 2555, lines 45 and 50; Form 2555-EZ, line
18; and Form 4563, line 15, and
● Exclusion of income from Puerto Rico 14
15 Add lines 13 and 14 15
16 Enter $125,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly) 16
17 Is the amount on line 15 more than the amount on line 16?
No. Skip lines 17 through 19, enter the amount from line 12
on line 20, and go to line 21.
Yes. Subtract line 16 from line 15 17
18 Divide the amount on line 17 by $10,000. Enter the result as a
decimal (rounded to at least three places). If the result is 1.000 or
more, enter 1.000 18 .
19 Multiply line 12 by line 18 19
20 Subtract line 19 from line 12 20
21 Add lines 4, 5, 6, 9, and 20. Enter the total here and on Form 1040, line 40a, or Form 1040A,
line 24a. Also check the box on Form 1040, line 40b, or Form 1040A, line 24b 21
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see Form 1040A or 1040 instructions. Cat. No. 49875F Schedule L (Form 1040A or 1040) 2009
Schedule L (Form 1040A or 1040) 2009
General Instructions
Who must use Schedule L. You must use
Schedule L to figure your standard
deduction if you have any of the following.
● State or local real estate taxes you paid
in 2009.
● A net disaster loss you report on Form
4684, line 18 (Form 1040 filers only).
● State or local sales or excise taxes (or
certain other taxes or fees in a state
without a sales tax) paid after February 16,
2009, for the purchase of any new motor
vehicle(s).
Note. See your tax return instruction
booklet to figure your standard deduction if
you are not claiming any of the items listed
above.
If you checked the box on
Form 1040, line 39b, or Form
1040A, line 23b, your standard
CAUTION deduction is zero, even if you
were born before January 2, 1945, were
blind, paid real estate taxes, had a net
disaster loss, or paid new motor vehicle
taxes.
Specific Instructions
Line 3. Earned income includes wages,
salaries, tips, professional fees, and other
compensation received for personal
services you performed. It also includes
any amount received as a scholarship that
you must include in your income.
Form 1040 filers. Generally, your earned
income is the total of the amount(s) you
reported on Form 1040, lines 7, 12, and
18, minus the amount, if any, on line 27.
Form 1040A filers. Generally, your
earned income is the amount you reported
on Form 1040A, line 7.
Line 6. Your standard deduction is
increased by your net disaster loss. This
amount is shown on Form 4684, line 18.
You must file Form 1040 to claim a net
disaster loss.
Line 7. Enter the state and local real estate
taxes you paid in 2009. Include state and
local taxes you paid on real estate you
own, but only if the taxes are based on the
assessed value of the property. Also, the
assessment must be made uniformly on
property throughout the community, and
the proceeds must be used for general
community or governmental purposes. See
Pub. 530 for more information.
Do not include the following amounts as
real estate taxes.
● Taxes deductible in arriving at adjusted
gross income (such as taxes on business
real estate) and taxes on foreign real
estate.
● Itemized charges for services to specific
property or persons (for example, a $20
monthly charge per house for trash
collection, a $5 charge for every 1,000
gallons of water consumed, or a flat
charge for mowing a lawn that had grown
higher than permitted under a local
ordinance).
● Charges for improvements that tend to
increase the value of your property (for
example, an assessment to build a new
sidewalk). The cost of a property
improvement is added to the basis of the
property. However, a charge is deductible if
it is used only to maintain an existing public
facility in service (for example, a charge to
repair an existing sidewalk, and any interest
included in that charge).
If your mortgage payments include your
real estate taxes, you can deduct only the
amount the mortgage company actually
paid to the taxing authority in 2009.
If you sold your home in 2009, any real
estate tax charged to the buyer should be
shown on your settlement statement and in
box 5 of any Form 1099-S you received.
This amount is considered a refund of real
estate taxes. See Refunds and rebates
next. Any real estate taxes you paid at
closing should be shown on your
settlement statement.
Refunds and rebates. If you received a
refund or rebate in 2009 of real estate taxes
you paid in 2009, reduce the amount you
enter on line 7 by the amount of the refund
or rebate. If you received a refund or rebate
in 2009 of real estate taxes you paid in an
earlier year, do not reduce your deduction by
this amount. Instead, you must include the
refund or rebate in income on Form 1040,
line 21, if you deducted the real estate taxes
in the earlier year and the deduction reduced
your tax. See Recoveries in Pub. 525 for
details on how to figure the amount to
include in income.
Line 10. If you check the “Yes” box, you may
be able to include some or all of the state or
local sales and excise taxes you paid for any
new motor vehicle(s) (defined below)
purchased after February 16, 2009.
However, if the amount on Form 1040, line
38, or Form 1040A, line 22, is equal to or
greater than $135,000 ($260,000 if married
filing jointly), you cannot include these taxes.
To determine the amount of state or local
sales and excise taxes to enter on line 10,
refer to the sales invoice(s) for any new motor
vehicle(s) you purchased. Taxes deductible
in arriving at adjusted gross income, such as
taxes on a vehicle used in your business,
cannot be used to increase your standard
deduction.
States with no sales tax. The states of
Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New
Hampshire, and Oregon do not have a sales
tax. However, you may be charged other
fees or taxes on the purchase of a new motor
vehicle in one of these six states that is
similar to a sales tax. The fees or taxes that
qualify must be assessed on the purchase
of the vehicle and must be based on the
vehicle’s sales price or as a per unit fee. You
can include these fees or taxes on line 10.
One example of a fee you can include on
line 10 is the 3.75% document fee when
registering a title with the Delaware Division
of Motor Vehicles. The fee is 3.75% of the
purchase price.
New motor vehicle. A new motor vehicle
is any of the following. The original use of
the vehicle must begin with you.
Page 2
● A passenger automobile or light truck that
is self propelled, designed to transport
people or property on a street or highway,
and the gross vehicle weight rating of the
vehicle is not more than 8,500 pounds.
● A motorcycle (defined below) with a gross
vehicle weight rating of not more than 8,500
pounds.
● A motor home (defined below).
Motorcycle. A vehicle with motive power
having a seat or saddle for the use of the
rider and designed to travel on not more than
three wheels in contact with the ground.
Motor home. A multi-purpose vehicle with
motive power that is designed to provide
temporary residential accommodations, as
evidenced by the presence of at least four
of the following facilities.
● Cooking.
● Refrigeration or ice box.
● Self-contained toilet.
● Heating and/or air conditioning.
● Potable water supply system including a
faucet and sink.
● Separate 110-125 volt electrical power
supply and/or propane.
Line 11. Enter on line 11 the cost of the new
motor vehicle(s). Do not include on line 11
any state or local sales or excise taxes you
entered on line 10.
Line 12. If you check the “Yes” box, the
amount you can include for state or local
sales and excise taxes is limited to the taxes
imposed on the first $49,500 of the purchase
price of each new motor vehicle. To figure
the amount to enter on line 12, you will need
to know the rate(s) of tax that apply in the
state and locality where you purchased each
new motor vehicle. If the state and locality
where you purchased a new motor vehicle
imposes a fixed rate, multiply the combined
state and local rate by the smaller of
$49,500 or the purchase price (before taxes)
of the new motor vehicle. See Example 1
below.
Some taxing jurisdictions may provide for
a sales tax that is limited to a certain dollar
amount per purchase. One example is
Manatee County, Florida. Manatee County
charges an additional 1
⁄2% (.005)
discretionary sales tax that is collected on
the first $5,000 of a purchase, not to exceed
$25. See Example 2 below.
Example 1. You purchased a new motor
vehicle on April 3, 2009, for $56,500 before
taxes. The state where you purchased the
vehicle imposes a fixed sales tax rate of 5%
and the locality also charges a fixed rate of
1%, for a combined fixed sales tax rate of
6%. The amount of sales tax you can include
on line 12 is $2,970 ($49,500 x 6% (.06)).
Example 2. You purchased a new motor
vehicle in Manatee County, Florida, on April
16, 2009, for $60,000 before taxes. The state
of Florida has a fixed sales tax rate of 6%.
The amount of sales tax you can include on
line 12 is $2,995 ($49,500 x 6% (.06) + $25).
In this example, $2,970 represents the 6%
Florida sales tax and the $25 is for the
Manatee County discretionary sales tax on
the first $5,000 of the purchase price.